Chapter 6: That Recieved
Petunia Dursley was a bit later coming down to breakfast than she’d wanted to be. Her curling iron had been stubborn today, after her morning shower- she rather suspected that it was reaching the end of its life. It’d started acting up on her last week, and was now so bad it was almost impossible to use anymore. Still, she’d heard pans on the stove downstairs on schedule, then the creaking of the floorboards as Dudley followed the smell of eggs and bacon, so she hadn’t had to go get things started on her own. She’d taken the time she needed to get that wave in her hair that Vernon loved so much.
It was a good thing the new curling iron Vernon had ordered should be arriving today. She wouldn’t have to worry about it tomorrow.
Vernon was still finishing up his morning shower, so she headed downstairs to check on things, make sure everything was on track. It was always dangerous to leave Dudley and Harry alone in the kitchen- that was often when things got burned, because Harry had to spend so much time avoiding Dudley’s punches- or taking them to his body, sometimes- that he couldn’t tend to the food.
When she walked downstairs, though, the hallway went past the living room- and as she passed, she noticed Dudley whimpering in fear in the corner. She paused briefly, before deciding to investigate what might have scared him before she asked him. As much as she cared, it often took him hours to tell her what he was scared of, so it was much faster for her to look on her own.
As she approached the kitchen, she noticed a peculiar sound. There was an odd humming coming from the kitchen- but it was impossible; she was the only girl in the house!
Then she stepped through the wide-open door into the kitchen. It was empty, except for Harry, who was humming a tune while she flipped the bacon.
While she flipped the bacon.
She looked a second time.
No, Harry was still very definitely a she. Her glossy black hair waved gently down her back, in exactly the way Vernon loved, almost far enough for her to sit on it.
Perhaps the largest tell for exactly who it was was that she was still wearing Dudley’s old clothes.
“What-?” she began, mind racing to try and figure out what had happened.
Harry looked. “Hmm?” When she had turned her head, she’d done so quickly enough that her now longer bangs flew away from her forehead just far enough to reveal the lightning scar for a mere moment. Then, she… she was a pretty little girl. And cute- and, she noticed, not wearing glasses. None of which had ever described Harry before.
“Oh, sorry about that,” Harry continued, once she saw Petunia. “I, uh,” she glanced down at herself, and back up, “woke up like this. If I knew how to reverse it, I’d have done it already.” She then gestured towards the door with a spatula. “And I think Dudley needs you- pretty sure he’s afraid of girls.” She turned back to the stove, and started scrambling eggs.
Petunia stood stone-still for another few seconds. She could see Dudley’s untouched platter of eggs, bacon, and toast already sitting on the table; she knew Harry knew that was the easiest way to ensure he still had time to cook breakfast for her and Vernon before Dudley started trying to hit him.
The girl Harry had become… She had seen the telltale bump on her chest. It seemed a bit early to her, at only eleven years of age, but the fact was that it was happening.
And with how pretty and elegant she was, it was a shame that the clothes were so nasty. She’d have to make sure she would have halfway decent-looking clothes to wear, if she was going to remain a girl for any kind of duration.
Then she suddenly jolted into motion, and headed for the living room. She had a son to console.
Emma Granger bolted awake at the sound of Hermione’s scream, even through two walls and a closed door.
Then there was the thump, and her husband, Dan, bolted awake next to her.
Then there was the clattering crash in the direction of the library.
Both man and woman moved as one.
“Hermione!”
Their bedding ended up strewn across the first thirty feet of hallway on the way to the library.
When they burst in through the library doors, though, it was to find Hermione sitting, completely unharmed, on the floor next to the fallen ladder, and holding a book in her arms.
She looked up at them. “Hi.”
Dan let out a sigh of relief, and Emma spoke. “Are you okay? That sounded like it hurt.”
Hermione shrugged, then looked up. “... Yeah, I guess it did, didn’t it? Not nearly as much as I expected it to, though. Even when the ladder fell on me.”
“It fell on you?” Dan asked, freshly alarmed.
Hermione fairly hopped onto her feet again, still holding that heavy encyclopedia. “Yup. Some kind of vision, I think, made me go limp for a second.” She looked down at her arms. “And gave me muscles.” She took a deep breath. “I hope I’m not dreaming.”
Dan was rendered speechless. Emma stepped closer, to touch Hermione’s muscled arm. “How…” She took a deep breath, and then hugged Hermione, encyclopedia and all.
To her surprise, it was she who moved when she pulled Hermione closer, not Hermione.
“You know what this means?” she muttered.
“I don’t have to worry about falling on my face and not being able to get up again? I really hope it isn’t temporary.”
“This means you can come off of that wretched diet!”
“Really?” Hermione sounded excited. She hadn’t only been carrying books around all the time, in her effort to get her strength to keep up with her growth, but she’d also been dieting hard, to the point where she was dangerously underweight, to keep her mass down to where she could lift it. As such, even immediately after a meal, she’d been constantly starving for years.
“Yep!” She drew back from her hug. “Just don’t let me catch you packing on too many pounds, you hear me?”
Hermione grinned, placing the heavy encyclopedia on a nearby table with one hand. “Oh, I expect the challenge will be to pack on enough pounds,” she answered, before stepping forward for her own hug.
Emma let out a squeak of surprise when her daughter’s casual hug involved more squeeze than Dan’s toughest bearhug.
Hermione drew back immediately. “I- I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“N-No,” she answered. “Your strength just surprised me.”
Hermione flinched, and looked down at her arms. “I… All the vision gave me was muscles. I don’t know how much strength they come with, yet.”
“Did the vision give you any clues?” Dan asked, kneeling next to his wife, putting himself on Hermione’s level.
Hermione shrugged. “Technically, yeah, I guess. I mean…” She looked back up at the bookshelf. “In that vision, I threw lead weights as heavy as our car through the roof.” She looked at him, then raised one specific finger. “With my pinkie.” She took a deep breath. “I… rather suspect they don’t fully represent reality. Though it did present itself as if it did, so…”
“With magic, who knows,” Emma muttered.
Hermione only nodded.
Ariel was worried her family might refuse her, so Ginny held her hand on their way down to breakfast. They looked exactly identical, just like Fred and George.
When they reached the kitchen, though, only their mother was there, working with her pots and pans to make breakfast. They both sat down.
“Good morning,” Ginny greeted.
Molly glanced over at her. “Good morn- Wait a minute.” She turned to look more fully, then counted. “There’s two of you?”
“Ahh,” Ginny looked at Ariel, then back at her mother. “I guess. I mean, Ariel isn’t me, but…”
Ariel took a deep breath. “I did kinda… pop out of thin air, didn’t I?”
Ginny nodded. “Yeah. From imaginary friend to twin sister in an instant.”
Ariel scowled. “And landing on the floor is not the first thing you want to remember.”
“We seem to have an infestation of Ginnys,” someone said, from behind Ginny and Ariel.
They looked. It was Fred, entering the room with his twin.
George nodded. “Yes, they seem to be popping out of the woodwork,” he mused.
“Or out of thin air,” Ginny amended.
“Thin air?” Fred asked.
Ariel smiled, and nodded. “Thin air.”
“Hangon,” George said, leaning in towards Ariel. “Hmm. Not exactly the same- your eyes are blue.” He stood up again.
“So what’s your name, oh sister of ours?” Fred asked Ariel.
Ariel giggled softly. “I’m Ariel.”
Ron entered the room next. “What the-? Why are there two Ginnys?”
“She’s not a Ginny,” Fred told Ron immediately.
“She’s an Ariel,” George continued.
“And a Weasley as well, I bet,” Fred mused.
Ariel shook her head. “Just Ariel. I think.”
An owl suddenly swooped in the open window, and dropped a small pile of letters on the table, before heading out again.
Fred got to it first, and took one glance at the wax seals. “Oh, looks like our Hogwarts mail just arrived,” he said, flipping them over to start reading addresses.
Three seconds later, George handed Ariel a letter.
“Uh… I guess I’m Ariel Weasley,” Ariel said, reading the address on the letter. She looked up. “Okay then.”
“The Hogwarts shopping is going to be quite expensive this year,” Molly mused.
“Hangon,” Ginny began, noticing that the twins had finished doling out letters and she hadn’t gotten one. “If we’re twins, why’d you get a hogwarts letter and not me?”
Ariel blinked, flipped it over, and popped open the wax seal. “Good question.”
There was only one piece of parchment inside, and she read it aloud. “Dear Ms. Weasley, we are pleased to inform you that your name is now down for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, you are not currently of school age, so if you are still in Britain next summer, you can expect an invitation to Hogwarts. Sincerely, Professor McGonagall, deputy headmistress.”
She looked up. “I think I’ve figured it out.”
“Us too,” Fred said.
Molly let out a sigh of relief. “Okay. At least we’ve got a year to prepare, hmm? I don’t think we could afford to send you this year anyways- we just don’t have the money.” She took a deep breath. “And even then, it’ll be a squeeze to get all your stuff next year, as well.”
Ron rubbed his chin contemplatively with one finger, gazing in the direction of his sister’s new twin.
Stats
Page generated in 0.025 seconds
Total duration
920 users online
542,519 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Damn, just found this and it seems really interesting, I'm sad it's first now I find this story.
So Ron's seeing what he missed out on, slightly. I like Harry and Hermione's family's reactions.
Well Petunia took it well. Now I wonder how Vernon will take it? Things are going to be taking a very drastic turn very shortly in that household.
This is going to be very interesting going forward
10515654
A little too well in my opinion. Probably her brain was still in blue screen mode and need some time to process the situation.
10515644
I think it might make more sense if Ron thought Ariel was that mysterious baby horse in his dream. Since he rejected its offer, it went to Ginny instead.
I forgot to tell her she should consume at least a slice of cake every day. It is an important diet.
10515899
Or possibly her more pragmatic part. A cute little girl getting hurt is going to attract far more attention.
10515899
10515918
It was undoubtedly a little bit of both...
And a little bit of something that won't be fully revealed until Chap. 8, but still.
They took things surprisingly well. The Grangers I can understand, since ofc they're chalking up all the weird shit going to magic- something that, to them, is already inherently bonkers. And Petunia could be chalked up to the aforementioned mental equivalent of a bluescreen- hm, did they even have bluescreen problems that far back in the 90's...? The one that's weirdest to me is the Weasleys, who literally just accepted it at face value, other than a few comments- but then, maybe magic really is just that weird, sometimes.
10516172
That and Ginny bonded to the Princess of Love... and you know what they say, love conquers all. There was no contest, because of the magic Ginny received
10516579
Bushy Brown Hair. If it was just described as bushy I might have thought some Equestrian got stranded. Add in the brown and that almost makes that impossible. While not unheard of, brown isn't that common a Mane color in Equestria.
Hermione and her parents are strange that they let starve so she won't develop any type of muscle mass on their own.
10516614
... They probably helped her with that diet, and regularly checked her weight- their goal was to keep her from gaining much fat mass, so that what little muscle mass she could accumulate would be enough. And as soon as the muscular problem went away, so did the need for that diet. She probably had a nice, big breakfast.
Nice chapter.
10516616
Ah, I kept imagining her as a super skinny model that harms her health to maintain perfection.
10517066
Maybe
10516636
That's... not what she said it was on chapter two...
Oh! This I will certainly enjoy! It will certainly be a chaotic year for the teachers at Hogwart! * Eating popcorn and drinking chocolate milk * On the other hand, I thought Molly would be happier to have another daughter, perhaps because of the sudden surprise. Now, if Twilight and the others make it back to Equestria, would that turn Harry back into a boy? Hermione would be a weak child again? Ariel would cease to exist? Or are these changes already permanent in that world?
I was just thinking about what would have happened if (this version of) Hermione never got Celestia's power.
She could probably have survived — if she made contact with the magical world in time. If nothing else, the witches/wizards could at least keep her under a featherweight charm.
10517359
Considering that there are quadruplegics that survive... I'd say that yes, she would have survived. Maybe not well, if it came to that, but she would've lived... then wizardkind would also probably have put her in St. Mungo's for a day while they magicked her up some muscles... if they realized there was a problem. Otherwise, it would've gone all the way to Hogwarts, where Madam Pomfrey would've done the honors herself, when some instructor or another realized the problem and took 'Mione to her.
I just spotted an inconsistency, while rereading earlier chapters.
In Chapter 4, Twilight talks as if she saw Cadence get hit by the spell.
But in Chapter 5, we see that Twilight got hit before Cadence.
10517394
Yeah, I noticed that too, actually while I was writing it... decided to ignore it, though, since the magic could've informed her that Cadence had been hit as well. Who knows how time works between the two worlds, or inside that spell-induced thing, after all.
Okay, this is pretty interesting so far. Lots of promise for where the story could go from here. Hope the Ron bashing don't actually manifest into a thing. I'm already sad he passed up on it XD But the 'gifts' are pretty cool. Ariel, Hailey (Love this fem Harry name), the strength. Very interesting and unique story so far.
10517756
The 'gifts', being technically side-effects of the real gifts, yeah
That said, while Ron did turn down Flurry's power, that was actually a very important act for the future of the story- and for the nation of Equestria, as you may have seen in Chapter 5. His turning down her power also marked the end of the Ron-bashing in this fic, except perhaps in flashbacks or the like; I despise his canon character, since he seems so manipulative and artificially dumb... But in Chap. 5, he took Flurry's insult to heart- and even here, you can see him thinking about how to move forward, especially now that the family's attention has been drawn to the addition of a second younger sister.
I think that his canon "artificial dumbness" and manipulativeness actually come from the same place bullies do: He felt inferior in his own home. He wasn't just outshone by his older brothers, but they also teased and pranked him without end- and he had a younger sibling (Ginny) that stole the "spoiled baby" position in the family away from him. A simple fix, when it comes down to it- that is entirely in how he thinks about it, how he responds to the pressure. In canon, he gave in and became depressed, started "sliding"- this seems to be the default response in real life as well. Here, he started by doing that- then Flurry happened, so he's going to fight back. Remains to be seen whether he'll win or not, but at the very least he won't be such a gloom-and-doom on the train to Hogwarts.
10517922
Are the side effects permanent? Because Harry, Hermione and Ginny would be sad if everything returned to normal, especially Ginny, imagine becoming fond of someone to see him disappear, literally disappear, unless he does not remember anything that happened right after, which would still be sad for us . Which I think I've already seen in a Manhwa, but I can't remember the name.
10518641
Well yeah, nobody's going to randomly disappear or anything. And yes, I'm being intentionally vague.
Adding this story to at least two of my bookshelves! I wanna keep an eye on this one!
...I will revise my previous comment a bit. Though I think the mechanism is over-engineered, I do think turning Harry into a girl and giving Ginny a twin could coexist without starving each other of screen time if a simpler mechanism to establish them both in the same fic were found.
10526025
... Well, the story is intended to focus on Hailey, rather than on Ariel or the like- but I won't be restricting it to a certain character (or group of characters') POV, like I did in Just Like Magic of Old (only Short Flight's POV) or On the Implications of Parallel Worlds (only British POVs, except Morning Sun), so...
That said, I don't have really any of these characters, save Silversong and maybe Hermione, fully developed in my head. That's going to make it a challenge for me, but it also means there's potential for some good characterbuilding scenes. I always suck at making such scenes that bring them up to what I want them to be, but stuff that develops them from what they were into something just a little different, like how Silver originally came to be in The Gate... I swear, that story lacked plot, order, or sense, but it had some of the best characterbuilding I've ever written in it.
10515899
Absolutely
Everybody knows that, in order for one to maintain the energy necessary to move a celestial body with the same mass as the sun, cake is an absolute must, at least a quarter every day
okay.. this is grand ..